Falling
by PandaNova27
Summary: Marinette is devastated after her father dies. She has to fight to not let the akumas get to her. Except, there aren't any akuma attacks since The Incident. Can she and Chat Noir figure out this mystery? Will everything be okay with her and her friends? With she ever get over her father's death?
1. Chapter 1

**Warning: This story is cute, heartbreaking, deep and sad at the same t****ime.**

**Hope you like it! **

**And no, i dont own MLB****~**

_Falling_

_F__alling into a dark hole of despair_

_I scream_

_But my voice sticks in my throat_

_I try_ _to hold on to something, anything_

_But it's no use_

_Because every time I try_

_I plunge even further_

_Falling_

_I close my eyes_

S_tray tears escape_

_I descend into the darkest depths of sorrow_

_Falling_

As Marinette finished her poem, the class erupted in applause. Ms. Bousiersmiled brightly. "Now _that_ is an A plus poem!" she beamed.

Marinette nodded, without giving so much as a smile. She was wearing a gray hoodie and black leggings, which was not her usual style.

Today she felt moody and sorrowful. It was pouring outside, which perfectly fit her mood. She was in this dark bubble that she felt she was trapped inside of. She felt trapped inside of it every day.

Every day since her father died.

Marinette trudged to her seat between Alya and Adrien. "You go girl!" Alya whispered excitetly. "Where'd you learn how to write like that! I guess designing isn't your only talent!"

Adrien turned to her and said, "Good job Marinette."

Marinette shifted in her seat to face Adrien. Since the funeral, Mari didn't feel any feelings of attraction between them. She no longer stuttered or blushed when talking to him.

"Thanks," she muttered as Rose walked to the front of the classroom, and got ready to read her poem, one about rainbows and kittens. Her poem was the complete opposite of Marinette's: Simple and cute as well as happy.

Happy.

Everyone was happy.

When Marinette woke up, it seemed like the chirping birds were happy. When she got to school, her friends were happy (not that they were happy about her father's death, of course. How could they be when they don't know of his death yet?) And when she biked to the park, she saw happy happy children holding hands with their happy happy mothers and their happy happy fathers.

_Father..._

The word stuck in her throat. Marinette bit her lip. Tears welled in her eyes and she clutched her pencil a little harder.

_Daddy..._

_~__FLASHBACK_

Marinette was a chubby, carefree toddler eating breakfast with her parents. "Daddy!!" She giggled as she saw her dad holding a banana to his mouth, which hid his toothy grin.

"Mari-bear, eat your breakfast! Yum yum in your tum tum!" Marinette's mom said, trying to get her to finish her breakfast. The memory faded away.

Marinette frantically searched for this memory in her her head, to see her father's smile again, to hear his laugh one more time, but it was no use. The memory was gone as soon as it came. "Marinette?"

Her eyes quickly went to the front of the room. She saw the glares of her classmates from the corner of her eyes, and Chloe's smirk.

"Marinette, open your book to page 377, please." said the teacher.

"Yes miss. Sorry," Marinette muttered and resumed her class work.

**TBC**


	2. Chapter 2

**New chapters almost weekly!**

**I don't own Miraculous.**

**o**

Marinette and Alya were walking side by side to the lunchroom. The blue-nette had her brown paper bag in one hand, and a bottle of Coke in another. They were about to reach the door when Chloe stopped them.

"_Hey_, Marinette!" Chloe said, fakely sweet. Chloe slipped her arm around Mari's back. "I am just _so _sorry about your father."

Marinette bit her lip as tears dared to flow out of her eyes. Her fists balled and her teeth clenched. Of course Chloe knew! The mayor was scheduled to make a speech about the death of her father soon. She pushed Chloe away and tried to go through to the doors of the cafeteria.

"Mari?" Alya whispered. "What happened to your dad?"

"Oh, some silly akuma killed him. Ladybug and Chat Noir couldn't save _everyone _this time." Chloe said.

Marinette furiously hurled her bottle of Coke at Chloe's white shirt, leaving a look of disgust on Chloe's face and an unforgivable stain on her shirt and pants.

The blue-nette ran out of the building, anrgy tears down her cheek.

**o**

Marinette kneeled down, sobbing in the back of the park. She felt a rush of emotions. Angry. Insecure. Depressed.

She heard a familiar voice behind her.

"Marinette?"

Marinette wiped her eyes dry, then she shifted to face Adrien.

"Marinette? Oh, I'm so sorry." Marinette could tell that unlike Chloe's apology, this one was sincere and true.

Marinette nodded, then shifted back to face away from him.

Adrien put his hand on her shoulder. "My dad... he hired a therapist. One for me and one for him."

She turned her head around.

"It really helped. It felt better to talk about it. Keep her alive, you know?"

She hung her head low again. "Do you miss her? Your mom?" she asked.

"Yeah."

Marinette felt like she was carrying a heavy boulder. But talking about it with Adrien made the boulder feel a bit lighter. The boulder was still there though, but it was better to aknowledge it than to pretend it wasn't there.

"Thanks," Matinette said, wiping a stray tear from her cheek.

"Say, it's about time to get back to class. You ready?"

"Let's go."

**o**

"Tikki! I'm so sorry! I almost let an akuma get me!" Marinette shouted, pacing around the room.

"It's _OK_!" Tikki responded. "For the millionth time, _it's not your fault!_"

"Just think about it: If I got akumatized, then how would Ladybug de-evilise the Akuma? Huh?"

"Mari, it's-"

"I was so wrapped up in my own problems when I forgot all about the safety of the citizens of Paris! I was so very lucky that I didn't get akumatized!"

"Marinette!" Tikki exclaimed. "Don't worry about it. The problem isn't that you almost got akumatized! The real mystery here is why there was not a single akuma attack the past week."

"Huh?"

**o**

**TBC**

**Please follow and fave! 3**


	3. Chapter 3

**New chapters almost every week!**

**I don't own Miraculous.**

**I wish.**

**o**

Ladybug swung her yo-yo as she landed on the roof of a building. She took a few steps, then stopped.

"Anything wrong, m'lady?" purred Chat Noir, who landed behind her and walked to her side.

"No, not at all. I was just thinking..." Ladybug trailed off and looked up at the night sky. "Chat, we need to talk."

"Oh?" He raised his eyebrows.

"Don't get any ideas, _kitty._" She sat down and motioned for Chat to sit down beside her. "Ever since the..." Ladybug hesitated. "...death. Of Tom Dupain." Her face immediately darkened. "Oh, it's all my fault." she whispered.

"Hey." Chat rested his hand on her shoulder, comforting her like Adrien did. "You can't save everyone. It's not your fault. If anyone's to blame, it's Hawk Moth."

Ladybug nodded, wiping a tear before Chat could see it. "So yeah, um... did you notice anything? Anything new or different?"

Chat shook his head.

"Well, ever since The Incident... there hasn't been an akuma attack. Like, in weeks."

Chat nodded slowly. "Yes but, how is that a problem m'lady?"

"I feel like something's up. Hawk Moth has stopped making akumas. We need to find out why. We also need to find out why there ever was akuma attacks in the first place," Ladybug said firmly.

"Yes, definitely." Chat agreed. "If you don't mind, I gotta go." He motioned to his beeping ring.

"See you on the flip side," she said, waving good-bye. She swung home.

**o**

**Sorry this chapter is sooo short, but I'm hoping to write another chapter soon!**

**Thanks 4 reading! ~ **


	4. Chapter 4

**Yaaay! Finally new chapter!**

**I donut own miraculous. ;-;**

**o**

Marinette transformed back to normal in a flash of pink light. She walked around her bedroom, and flopped on her bed.

Just then, Alya opened the door to her bedroom. "Oh, hey, Mari!" she said.

Marinette could sense her trying to cheer her up. Her eyes slid to the floor. "Hi. What are you doing here?" her voice barely rose above a whisper.

"Yeah, your mom let me in. I just wanted you to know, I'm here for you. I got your back, girl." She took a step forward. "I can't promise to understand, but I can try to help."

Marinette nodded and leaned in for a hug. Alya hugged back.

They pulled apart after hearing Mari's mom call for dinner. They stomped down the stairs, to see Marinette's mom with her hands folded in her lap, staring solemnly out the window. There was a table at one end of the dining room, which held a small framed picture of Mr. Dupen. Small candles were lit on either side of the frame, and roses were scattered on the table. The widow sighed and kept looking out the window.

Marinette knew that this meant her mom was thinking about him, and it was best to leave her alone when she did this. Mari couldn't bare the thought of sleeping in the bed you used to sleep in with your loving partner, now an empty space where there used to be the person you loved most.

Marinette motioned to Alya to leave be, and they sat next to each other at the other end of the dining table, scooping up food on to her plate. She chewed her food slowly, and noticed it was tasteless. She shot an apologetic look to Alya, who nodded.

Their plates were empty now. "Thank you for the food, Mrs. Cheng." Alya said politley. Marinette's mom nodded, still staring off into space.

Alya whispered in Mari's ear, "Do you want to take a walk? And maybe… talk?"

Marinette naturally started to shake her head, but she remembered when she talked with Adrien in the park, and decided it was better to tell Alya about everything.

**O**

"...so ever since, I've just been in a dark place," Marinette explained, walking side-by-side with Alya in the pale moonlight of the park. She stopped to face Alya. "Thanks… for being there for me."

"You got it, girl."

**o**


	5. Chapter 5

**I am NOT sorry for the late chapter :D JK**

**I don't own Miraculous. Do I have to remind you every time?!**

•••

Adrien smoothed his shirt, curious to see what Ladybug was up to soon. "Plagg, just think! We might be a step closer to finding out who Hawk Moth really is!" He ran a hand through his hair, smiling.

"Or we could be one step closer to our doom." muttered Plagg. "I don't have a good feeling about this."

"Look on the bright side, Plagg."

"I can't. I'm literally the kwami of destruction."

"Whatever. Plagg, claws out!"

•••

Ladybug squinted in the sun, looking around from the rooftop of one of the tallest buildings in Paris, the Montparnasse Tower. It was unlike her to be on duty in the morning, but today was a weekend, and she was free to wander around town.

She anxiously waited for Chat to come. _If he isn't here by now, I might as well do this without him, _she thought.

Ladybug jumped a little and tensed, startled by the sound of Chat's slender steel pole hitting the rooftop. As she realised who it was, her hands relaxed. "_Chat. _I was waiting for you. I was about to go!"

"Aww, don't be a pussycat, m'lady." He played.

"Whatever. Come on, let's go."

She led him to a dim, old shop. There were cobwebs on the corner of the shop, dust collecting on the floor, a single table and dry erase board in the back. On the dry erase board were sticky notes, magnets holding small pieces of paper. A palm-tree shaped magnet held a picture of Hawk Moth. On the corner of the board held a picture of Gabriel Agreste, captioned with a question mark in red marker.

Chat picked up the picture. His brows furrowed. "Why is this here?"

"I have some evidence that Gabriel Agreste has connections to Hawk Moth," Ladybug said, walking up to him.

"What? But how? Fath-I mean, Gabriel was even akumatized once!" Chat said anxiously.

Not noticing the slip-up, Ladybug continued, "Hawk Moth could've akumatized him to lead us astray. It's a possibility."

"Right… but let's focus on what we know. No jumping to conclusions." Something bad was shuffling in his stomach.

"Yes. What we do know is that Hawk Moth has tried and tried again to get our Miraculouses. For some reason, he has stopped. Maybe he no longer needs them?"

"Hmm, interesting. I think that maybe, he just gave up?"

"I don't think so, Chat. Hawk Moth isn't the type to just give up. Remember Hero's Day? He was so close. And with every akuma attack he just seems more determined than the last. For all we know, he could be devising a massive plan, _ten times _bigger than Hero's Day. I have a feeling this all has to do with… the incident."

She found that she wasn't sad, she was determined and if anything, angry. Angry that this all happened and _because of Hawk Moth! _But worst of all, she was angry that she wasn't able to save her own father. _You can't save everyone… _Chat's words echoed in her mind.

"It's time to go, Chat. I'll see you later."

Chat nodded and started walking home.

•••

**Hmm, an interesting new development! Wonder what's happening next? **

**Stay tuned in folks! For another exciting chapter of... ****_Falling!_**


	6. Chapter 6

**I got writer's block. soooooo. This chapter is probably not gonna be good...**

**I do not own Miraculous.**

•••

_After class that morning..._

"Marinette, could I see you for a minute?" Ms. Bustier called out to her.

_What now, _Marinette thought. She dragged herself out of her seat and met her teacher outside the door.

"Marinette, remember the poem you made and read aloud to the class the other day?" Ms. Busteir asked.

Marinette nodded.

"It was such an exceptional poem, that I entered it in a country-wide writing contest, and you made it to the finalists!" Ms. Bustier exclaimed with excitement.

Marinette raised her eyebrows. _I don't need this, _she thought.

"In two weeks or so, there will be a big convention to announce the winner. You and one other person can come. This flyer has all the information you need to go!" Ms. Bustier handed Marinette a flyer. At the top captioned, "Benson inc.'s Writing Contest of France! Calling all authors, poets, and journalists!"

Marinette shook her head and pushed the flyer away. "Sorry, I don't have the time," she mumbled.

"Please. I know you're going through a hard time right now, and this will give you something to clear your mind. At least consider it. I insist!"

With a sigh, Marinette took the flyer, planning to throw it away as soon as her teacher was out of sight. She folded it and placed it in her back pocket.

"Remember, hundreds of people enter this contest every year! You are one of the few who made it to the finalists. So please," she said for the second time.

Marinette nodded and left the building.

•••

"Girl, what happened in there? Did you get in trouble?" Alya asked as the two best friends walked home that day.

"Nah, just some silly contest," Marinette replied. Remembering about the contest, her hands immediately went to her back pocket, but she felt too guilty to throw it away, so she left it lying there.

Alya's raised eyebrow told her that she wanted to know more, but Marinette disregarded it.

Nino and Adrien passed by, and Adrien smirked at Marinette and gave a small wave. Marinette waved back and kept walking, hands in her pockets.

"Alya, haven't you noticed anything strange lately? About the akumas?" Marinette asked.

"No..." Alya said.

Marinette sighed. "I just feel like Hawk Moth is up to no good."

"What do you mean? He's _always_ up to no good."

"Yes, but still. He could be cooking up something massive," she explained.

Alya nodded. "But if he was, Ladybug and Chat Noir would take care of it... right?"

"...Right."

•••

**TBC**

**I feel like I could have added more to the ending of this chapter. In the meantime, keep your hopes high for a new chapter soon!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hai! It's more like new chapters every month now lol. I've just been super busy… but here's the new chapter!**

**Let's just say that Chat already met Master Fu, ok? Good :D**

•••

When Marinette woke that Saturday, it was one of those days that Marinette felt like she just wanted to lay on her bed and cry. But, she had to drag herself out of her comfortable and convenient bed to get on with the day.

As she trudged downstairs for her breakfast, she remembered that she'd planned to meet up with Chat that afternoon to discuss the whole situation with Hawk Moth and hopefully get some information. They were also going to meet with Master Fu, who would give them advice about their next actions against Hawk Moth.

She grabbed a croissant, but not before noticing that there were no customers in the bakery. Usually, there were plenty of customers in her family's bakery, but the sign was forever turned to "closed". Marinette sighed, wondering how she hadn't noticed this before.

•••

Ladybug and Chat entered the old, deserted shop which was starting to become more of a headquarters for them. Ladybug had replaced some broken light bulbs and put up posters of themselves, and added bean bag chairs to the room.

Chat broke the silence by saying, "Wow, this place is really starting to look like home!"

"Not really…" Ladybug replied with a sigh. "But it definitely looks better than before."

Chat nodded, agreeing.

"Anyways, let's get on with it. We came here to talk about Hawk Moth, and plan what to do next. Any ideas?" Chat shook his head.

"Ok then, let's meet up with Master Fu."

•••

Chat walked in the dimly lit room, a bit nervous and in awe as this was only the second time he was meeting up with Master Fu. The old man was sitting cross-legged on the floor and reading a mystical spellbook and flipping through the pages.

"Hello, Chat. Hello, Ladybug. Thank you for meeting with me today," he said calmly. Ladybug nodded and sat with him on the floor. Chat did the same.

"Do you have any idea what Hawk Moth might do next?" Ladybug asked.

Master Fu shook his head. "No. But we can prepare for the worst, and even try to prevent him from hurting or akumatizing anyone ever again."

Both of the heroes nodded. "And.. how can we do that?" Chat asked.

Master Fu closed his eyes. "There are stories of good triumphing over evil in a long battle. If you thought that this was in Hero's day, you were wrong. Obviously Hawk Moth was still doing evil deeds after that.

"To fully defeat Hawk Moth, you must find out his secret identity and rebuke him of his Miraculous. Then and only then will Paris be out of danger."

Ladybug added, "To stop him, we need to get to the core of this problem. And that means figuring out why he wanted our miraculouses in the first place."

Master Fu took out his ancient spellbook, and flipped to a page with the ladybug, cat and butterfly kwamis. He said, "The butterfly kwami was originally used for the good of mankind. Hawk Moth has corrupted it into an evil thing, using it to his own advantage.

"You asked why he wanted your miraculouses? That is because the ladybug kwami, the kwami of creation, and the cat kwami, the kwami of destruction, used together have the power to fulfill a wish."

Chat's eyes widened. "What would Hawk Moth want to wish for?" He thought out loud.

"It must be something really important for him to willingly harm others to get it." Ladybug said. "But I think I have a plan to stop this madness once and for all."

•••


End file.
